Percy and Simpson remain on course to defend sailing title in London

Iain Percy is confident he and Andrew Simpson can overcome their recent troubles to defend their Star sailing title in London.

The pair suffered a blow in December when Percy's back injury forced them out of the World Championships in Perth.

But they returned to action last month and won a silver medal in the Palma World Cup regatta, missing out on gold by just a single point.

Team work: Iain Percy (left) and Andrew Simpson take to the water

'Some parts of our game were good and some were fairly shocking,' Percy admitted to Sportsmail. 'It's indicative of the fact that we’ve only done four races in the last eight months.

'We made some schoolboy errors and even missed the start in one race. We threw away a good 30 points so in that respect to lose by just one point to our main rivals can be seen as a positive. But we need to iron out these silly mistakes.

'With the injury to my back we haven’t been able to do the competitions through the winter in America. There are a lot of competitions we missed and we weren't race sharp. That's what the next few months are for.'

Despite the disappointment of having to withdraw in Australia, Percy believes his injury wasn't without it's upside.

'I've often had issues with my back but it's never broken down as it did in Perth.

'But now it's never felt so great so I'm really grateful to the physios in the team. In a way it was a blessing in disguise.

Golden duo: Simpson and Percy won gold in Beijing four years ago

'It's like something breaking on the boat the day before the first race; you're grateful it didn’t happen on the day of the race. It's been like that with my back.'

Percy teamed up with best friend Simpson to win gold in Beijing four years ago. And, with less than three months to go until the London Games, he is confident the pair will be ready.

'It was a shame to miss the competitions,' he admits. 'But I don't think in the long run it will affect us. We need to be more analytical to our approach to the competitions and get the most out of them.

'If we do that then we’ll be fine. In some ways it can be a bonus. I now put more effort into the exercises we’re always told to do: the stretching and the core work which I never normally do enough of!

'We've got a lot of work to do. In 2008 we were determined to go in knowing there was nothing more we could have done and we're in that process now. There are some very long days ahead.'

Since 2010, Clarks have developed the best-in-class sailing footwear in collaboration with Iain and Andrew and to help them achieve their dream of winning Olympic Gold in London 2012.